Your Ink Dry Time Req.

[Inxoy]

What would you expect the dry time to be on your best piece of paper? I'd imagine everyone would want their paper to be instantly dry but I'm curious as to what your expectations are if you invested in a nice piece of paper.

What has been your experience with dry times on your best paper? I am setting the ground rules that you are writing with at most a thick medium nib. Flex and ob. have more puddles of ink and I'd toss those out for this exercise.

[migo984]

If you mean dry so that it is pretty much smudge-proof then it depends on the ink. It can vary from 5-10 secs to 1/2 a day or even more! Environmental conditions are also a factor. For example, in very humid weather my Noodler's Burgundy doesn't dry to be colour-fast at all.

[Dreck]

This is awfully ambiguous. As Migo said, environmental factors play an important part. Add to this the subjectivity of what one considers "best paper." Clairefontaine? Strathmore? Paper thickness, calendaring, and coating will all play big parts, too. I write on a 90 g/sm writing paper, and consider it superior to Moleskine, Rhodia, and all of the plethora of onionskin-fine papers that seem to be so popular among the pen-and-ink crowd.

[Inxoy]

I'm going to have to peel back the layers on your onionskin-fine papers...

I am not looking for a black and white "paper should be dry by this time no matter what!" The question was meant to be subjective. The entire post referenced "you" and "your". The best paper, the conditions and the ink are all variables and/or subjective. It they weren't subjective then there would be an absolute answer to the question and I would have gone to an encyclopedia instead of a forum for people's experiences and their expectations. It sounds like migo984's answer for what he finds acceptable is around 5-10 secs but he recognizes some conditions and some types of ink will make it longer. Is this correct?

Dreck, how long does it normally take for your ink to dry on your 90 g/sm? Is this time acceptable to you or is it a little bit of a hassle but you live with it because you like the other qualities of the paper?

For myself, I've tested several different sheets so far and if the ink isn't dry by the time I finish a sentence, I move on to the next sample. So for me that is anywhere from 5 to 15 seconds. At the root of all of this I want to make sure you guys aren't out there writing with paper that is awesome, looks good and dries in half a second because that then tells me I'm not even in the ballpark yet.

[migo984]

It sounds like migo984's answer for what he finds acceptable is around 5-10 secs but he recognizes some conditions and some types of ink will make it longer. Is this correct?



She, not "he" :-)

To be honest I don't time it. It dries when it dries; I don't consciously think about drying times or worry about it as a criteria for whether I use, or not, a particular paper. If I like a paper I use it, even if I have to put a sheet aside when I reach the bottom of a side. Or I use blotting paper.

[Inxoy]

Sorry about that. Thanks for the info.

[jar]

Simply not an issue. If it might take too long I just use a blotter.

[Dreck]

It takes as long as it takes, and that's fine. When it's not fine, that's why we have rocker blotters.

[Inxoy]

ok.

[belligerentcheez]

I actually found this thread because I have the same question. I use my FPs in classes to take notes at a scribbling fast pace. I use both sides of the paper to keep the bulk of my folders down, and it frustrates me when I get through writing a page and the ink at the top still isn't dry. I am new to this, and so have only tried some different copy paper (found one that I like pretty quickly) and a few of the standard rhodia and clairefontaine notepads. I am ordering some levenger "Inklings™ Freeleaf® Pads with Blotter Paper, Letter (set of 3)" right now to give them a shot, and if nothing else I can use the included blotters with the other notebooks. So best of luck tracking down other options for quicker drying paper that doesn't significantly sacrifice writing experience itself. I hope to stumble upon a brand/type that doesn't require me to stop writing to blot the ink. I'll post again if I find one.

[belligerentcheez]

I just realized that I didn't answer the question. I am experiencing a loooong wait time on ink drying (I ordered a bunch of ink samples to see which ones dry quicker). I would be happy with 15 seconds or so.

[nusiax]

I use Crane's crest a great deal. It takes a few minutes to dry and it hates my Visconti Van Gogh fine. My Pineider and Frabicci paper drys almost instantly as the paper is very absorbing. My handmade rice paper from Japan does not dry well with medium nib European pens. But is fabulous when writing with my Fine Platinum3776 and Sailor Pro Extra Fine.

[Inxoy]

I bought a sample of as many different notebooks as I could find. I haven't marked all of them up yet but the rhodia and mnemosyne def. dry faster than the clairfontaine.

[jackokun]

I just realized that I didn't answer the question. I am experiencing a loooong wait time on ink drying (I ordered a bunch of ink samples to see which ones dry quicker). I would be happy with 15 seconds or so.

Agree with the 15 seconds, but there is also the question of what type of nib do you use as well as the ink itself and what are you using the paper as (journal, letter, etc. ) I personally if it is nothing on the go I'm fine letting it dry as much as it needs to and after some time use a blotting paper just in case to minimize any possible smearing.

On my on the go journal I keep a blotting sheet in between writings just-in-case

[Dreck]

I just realized that I didn't answer the question. I am experiencing a loooong wait time on ink drying (I ordered a bunch of ink samples to see which ones dry quicker). I would be happy with 15 seconds or so.

Have you tried Iron Gall inks? They generally write pretty dry (I use a F. nib), although I admit that most of my writing is on fairly absorbent loose-leaf (from my students) or 24# "via" from Mohawk. I do have a few different IG inks, and will be happy to send a sample or 2 if you are interested and hadn't previously considered them

[DaveBj]

Simply not an issue. If it might take too long I just use a blotter.

^^^This. I don't have a blotter, but a paper napkin spread over the page and gently pressed to it works pretty well.